Some Chicken Soup News... and Back-of-the-Book Blurb Friday # 63

      A couple of months ago I got the news that a story I'd written had made it over the first hurdle for Chicken Soup's My Kind of America. I kept quiet so as not to jinx it.

      Two days ago, I got an email: my story was in. It made it through the final editorial round and emerged victorious.

      The story "My Ferguson" makes me proud because it tells what the real Ferguson is like. It tells the story of a community that is not one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It tells the story about a particular Ferguson family who started a business in Ferguson because they believe in their neighborhood.

      I hope that if you're a writer and you've gotten dejected because your submissions have been rejected... keep the faith. You never know. Your next piece may get a "yes."

      And now, onto book blurb stuff.

Look at the photo below. That is the cover of your book. You choose the genre. Is it a mystery? (It sure looks mysterious to me.) Is it a romance? (Like, a romance with bad hairstyles?) Is it historical fiction? (Let's hope it's in the past and not in the present.) You decide.

Write an enticing blurb--150 words or less. (The title doesn't count in the word count.) Blurbs are those enticing bits that prod you into buying the book. Sometimes they're on the back cover of the book. Sometimes they're on the inside front cover. What they always try to do is lure you into purchasing the book.

Lisa Ricard Claro was the original creator of this writing challenge. Currently, she's super busy. She and her hubster are currently basking on the beach in Florida. Leave the sand to do this book blurb stuff? No way. (She's also working on a new novel--I'm sure--so that keeps her occupied in between applying the sunscreen.)

Include your blurb in a blog post. Include a link to this post. Also, link your post to Mr. Linky. Mr. Linky is easy. If you've never done it, you'll be impressed with how simple he is. And then, check out the other blurb(s). It's interesting to see the different directions writers take, given the same photo.

Here's the book cover, along with my blurb:

      A Family Affair

It’s 2016… and yet the Aquanet family is stuck in the 1980s.

Arnie Aquanet and his wife Tina went retro when they got married in 2005. Arnie loved Bon Jovi—the early Bon Jovi—so when they started their family, the kids fell right into line with mom and dad. Big hair was an everyday thing. The bigger, the better.

Getting ready for school and for work resulted in a hairspray haze that hung in the house for hours after everyone left.

The destruction of the ozone layer? Everyone has to die… they might as well die cute.

But then the government passes a law. No more aerosol products allowed. Arnie and Tina know the pump sprays do diddly-squat, so they panic.

Will the Aquanets decide to stockpile their favorite hairsprays so they can survive a few more years? Or will they find a new hairstyle they can fall in love with? (150 words)

And for those who like to work ahead (like Val and Pat), here is the photo for next week:

photo by pixabay

Heartbreak in Turkey

Last Sunday, I got back from Turkey. My mission: to bring back 3 or 4 golden retrievers.

We succeeded. Three adult dogs and one puppy will soon be in forever homes here in America.

If you go here, you can find out more about our rescue's Turkey dogs. (The puppy went to a rescue in Illinois.)

All three of these dogs were living on the streets in Turkey. There are unwanted stray dogs and cats on every street, sidewalk and highway shoulder in Istanbul as well as the small Turkish villages and towns. It's heartbreaking.

Gatsby's much more handsome than his photo leads one to believe. He was supposed to be a guard dog for a bakery. For anyone who knows goldens, they're so friendly and have such gentle natures, you know the only thing Gatsby guarded was the bread and treats--for himself--and he probably wagged his tail and turned on the full power of his brown eyes to get people to pet him.

Yes, in Turkey there are many other dogs starving, dying of thirst, suffering from getting hit by a car and aching for some human affection... but at least these four dogs are going to have a better life.